SAS to push ahead with 4XNG restructuring plan

Troubled Scandinavian carrier SAS says it will push ahead with its ‘4XNG’ restructuring plan, following agreements with the eight unions representing its crew.

Earlier this week the airline said it had reached agreement with seven out of the eight unions, with only the Danish pilots union holding out.

SAS says it has now reached agreement with this union, although it is “conditional upon approval by one third of its members”.

The carrier is attempting to push through the “4 Excellence Next Generation” (4XNG) plan, aimed at cutting annual costs cut by around SEK 3 billion (£278.5 million), with the loss of up to 6,000 jobs, salary reductions and the outsourcing of call centres and ground handling operations.

Announcing the plan earlier this month, the airline’s president and CEO Rickard Gustafson stressed that “it truly is our ‘final call’ if there is to be a SAS in the future”.